Live time conversion and hour-by-hour comparison
This page shows the live time conversion between New York and London. The hour-by-hour chart above makes it easy to find overlapping business hours for meetings or calls. Green highlights indicate standard business hours (9 AM – 5 PM) in each city.
New York (Eastern Time) and London (GMT/BST) are the two most important financial cities in the world, and their scheduling overlap drives trillions of dollars in daily transactions. The time difference is typically 5 hours — when New York opens at 9:30 AM ET, London is already at 2:30 PM and has been trading for 4.5 hours. The overlap window from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM London time (9:30 AM to 11:30 AM ET) is the highest-volume trading period in global financial markets.
The time difference between New York and London isn't always 5 hours. Because the US and UK change clocks on different dates, there are 2-3 week periods each spring and fall when the gap shifts. In mid-March, when the US springs forward before the UK, the gap shrinks to 4 hours. In late October, when the UK falls back before the US, it briefly becomes 4 hours again. These transition weeks catch people off guard — always double-check during March and late October.
For a call that works for both cities, aim for 9 AM to 12 PM ET (2 PM to 5 PM London). This keeps both sides within normal business hours. An 8 AM ET call catches London at 1 PM — right after lunch, a good time. Avoid scheduling for after 12 PM ET if possible, as that pushes London past 5 PM. For urgent evening calls, 6 PM London (1 PM ET) is the latest most London-based professionals will accept.
British and American business communication styles differ despite the shared language. UK meetings tend to start precisely on time, with less small talk than American counterparts. Email response expectations also differ — UK professionals often expect next-business-day responses, while American tech culture may expect faster turnaround. When scheduling across the Atlantic, building in 5-10 minutes of buffer for connection issues is standard practice.